


Dark Side of the Moon

by Elenore



Category: InuYasha - A Feudal Fairy Tale
Genre: Inucest, M/M, Major incest
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-02-24
Updated: 2016-07-16
Packaged: 2018-05-22 22:16:10
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 18,539
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6095716
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Elenore/pseuds/Elenore
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>500 years later, Inuyasha doesn't attract trouble to himself anymore. Kouga does it for him. Because that's what friends are for.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Inuyasha's Day Off

**Author's Note:**

> First thing first, I don't know Italian. So where is that "Per Un Piacere Diabolica" come from? I use Google translate and some Italian online checkers to make sure it relatively understandable(?) if there will be Italian(s) reading this story and wonder if I am insane. The meaning is "For a Diabolical Pleasure".
> 
> Now, we are breaking in the Kagome Kagome song.
> 
> \- Kago no naka no tori wa (The bird in the cage): Inuyasha referred to himself. First, in the middle of an attack that he couldn't escape because somehow, he was paralyzed. Second,
> 
> \- Itsu itsu deyaru (When, when will you come out): Also referred to himself, but to address his human side only appeared on the night of New Moon which was usually "caged" by his half-demon appearance.
> 
> \- Yoake no ban ni (In the evening of the dawn): This is a wordplay. "Yoake" means sunrise/dawn, the end of night; and "ban" means night. So literally we get "the night of the end of night". This kind of time does not exist, to make him be a half-demon or human or demon, so Inuyasha could be whatever he wanted to be (human, demon, half-demon) that were all himself.
> 
> \- Tsuru to kame ga subetta (The crane and turtle slipped): Crane symbolized good fortune and Turtle symbolized long life, when "slipped", they became bad luck and death. This one is mostly self-explained, Inuyasha mocked his enemies that their life ended here for their bad luck in crossing him.
> 
> \- Ushiro no shoumen dare? (Who stands right behind you now?): Also self-explained.
> 
> I hope you enjoy the reading.

"Sesshoumaru-sama?"

Said demon looked up at the call of his name, and frowned. There peaking his head curiously in the office was Shippo.

"What is it?" Sesshoumaru inquired. _Come in_ , was left unsaid.

Shippo grinned sheepishly and nudged the heavy wooden door open with his shoulder, wide enough for himself and his massive paper bundle to slip in and kicked it close with the ball of his foot.

Sesshoumaru raised an eyebrow.

The Fox demon deposited everything on the desk before Sesshoumaru, neatly in four stacks that almost hid the older demon from view, with a relief sigh. Some of them even had strong scent of perfumes. "These," Shippo drummed his blunt nails on two where his hands rested, the combination of various olfaction-poisoning perfumes got stronger by his action, "Are fan-mails and love-letters. Address to you." Before Sesshoumaru could demand them all to be burned by Fox Fire on the spot as usual, the younger demon continued, "Kohaku and Jaken will bring in the rest soon. When I leave they are already at the last box."

Apparently, the speed of a _daiyoukai_ was too great that he had no paperwork left to do (more likely got stolen by a certain someone just so he had to spend most of his work hours looking at nothing in particular on the other side of the glass wall behind his executive chair). That was why his properties decided he should read something else more productive (in their opinion) than boring reports (according to Inuyasha, the aforementioned _certain someone_ ).

Two knocks on the door signalized Kohaku and Jaken arrival, each carried a bundle as hideous as Shippo's.

Sesshoumaru already prepared to melt them all with his poison.

"Um… Sesshoumaru-sama," Kohaku started hesitantly, putting a small package on top one random stack because there was no space left after they tried to fit everything on the poor desk without upsetting other items, "This is from the Lady. I found it buried in one of your mailboxes…"

Now, that was a bad omen.

They were living under one roof, so what was the point in sending him anything this way? She even wrote a bright red warning _'I recommend you view this alone'_ for him.

Definitely bad omen.

"Wait outside, you three." Sesshoumaru ordered. The only reason he listened to her was, no one should ignore her words. None. She never bothered with punishing disobedience. It was just you would regret not doing as she said and, she would rub it in your face whenever the chance was given to her on silver platter.

The three left their Lord alone. Shippo and Kohaku silently prayed in their head for his sanity. Because the state of his mind connected with world peace and living population.

"I feel like I've just done something my survival instinct told me not to." Shippo remarked when they were at a safe distance away from Sesshoumaru's office, draping himself face down on one of the long sofas in the lounge area often used to dissuade guests, who generally thought they were too important to be in the same space as the mob flocking the ground floor. Somewhere in the back of his mind suggested he remove the camouflage of the whole building to help lesser demons inside looked relatively like everyday humans (who were generally unable to change their appearance at will) to reserve his strength in preparation for the worst case. He was confident in himself to finish off Naraku's Byakuya within a blink time right now, no bragging. That was why Sesshoumaru was an entirely different matter altogether. _League_ matter.

"It's not our place to see into his personal things." Kohaku breathed out in defeat, sitting stiffly on an armchair beside the Fox demon while Jaken hopped on another armchair across him without a word. The male slayer had stopped aging when he barely reached nineteen. According to the Lady, his life had been abnormally prolonged by Kikyo's will through the light of _Shikon no Tama_. And so, he had become neither a human or a demon.

It wasn't long until they heard a low growl.

Facts about their Sesshoumaru-sama. He was the current _Inu no Taisho_ , the Great Dog General of their generation. There had been one description about him like this, _"Beautifully chilling. The strongest demon in the Warring States era."_ Actually, he kept the crown of "strongest demon" for longer, much longer than that. Here was proof, he was still _the strongest_ after their five centuries living under his wings. He mated with Inuyasha not long after Kagome returned. Got embarrassingly discovered how he had been spoiling his half-sibling rotten since forever (in his own way) via his own Mother's point of view while she blatantly hush-hushed about her son with Inuyasha (who was her all-in-one indirect-son, blood relate nephew, step-son and son-in-law). He looked two years older in human standard during those last five centuries. Despite his state of unavailable (though not many knew he had already mated), persistent suitors still swarming him hourly as time passed by.

He was cold,

He was aloof,

He was calm in most cases,

He snarled,

He hissed,

He roared,

But he very, very seldomly growled.

Defined growl. Growl was a human word his properties decided to make use of to describe the kind of ancient language was leaving his lips that they had no general idea about (his fellow canine demons Kouga and Shippo admitted the sound was purely un-decode-able; Inuyasha had never given any straight answer; no one dared to ask the Lady whenever they were lucky enough to be in the same area as her, more fearing for their lives at the mercy of those two total Hellhounds by her sides). His growl had no comical effect like Inuyasha's during his youth. It was a siren telling whatever had ears, that he was pissed. No. He was _fucking pissed._

Still sitting where they were, Shippo and Kohaku stared at each other, then at the other demons as they scurried around finding shelter in fright, obviously also catching The Growl (as they dubbed it). What was the point? It was not like Sesshoumaru would spare anything if he ever decided today was the last day of Earth (better not test that theory, seriously).

Now, why other demons associated with Sesshoumaru on a professional level via the relationship of he-who-gives-you-paychecks and you-who-he-gives-paychecks. Simple, he was the boss and leader one could only dream to find, aside from his wonderful paychecks. Besides, no one could ignore the temptation to hog a permanent contract to work under the strongest demon, since it was unable to resist his allure of power. Excepted his allies, and enemies. So far that "permanent" only applied to the obvious three. Inuyasha and the Lady didn't work under him. They worked _with_ him.

Ironically, on contrary to how Inuyasha had traveled in packs during his youth for several decades, he relapsed to operate like a lone wolf not long after. That was the explanation for why Shippo was put in Sesshoumaru's care by the end of his childhood months after the human number of their original pack died off due to old age (much, much to the younger's charging once upon a time). To Sesshoumaru, the Fox demon was a nice change of environment where he didn't have to feel bitter grief over watching his charge die as her time ran out before he was fully prepared for it. Kohaku's case was more or less self-explained.

Now, the Lady was somewhere doing something only she knew what. And Inuyasha, since he had decided a day off all to himself, also wandered off or still sleeping off his boredom somewhere in the middle of nowhere, plotting something to torture someone.

These two were mentioned to express the next fact, that no one nearby could put a leash on their Sesshoumaru-sama at the moment if thing was about to take an ugly turn.

* * *

A half-naked Inuyasha was lounging on his side amidst the familiar sea of white fur. That loose black leather belt riding low around his hips did a good job in exposing the undone button of his form fitting dark red leather pants, left the start of silver happy trail on display, giving free rein for imagination. Folded arms with different purposes, one cushioning his temple and hid most of his obviously smirking lips, the other dangled a wine glass of red liquid in between two nimble claw fingers beside his head. Knee-length silver hair draped about him like the most delicate see-through silken material, falling over the purple demonic markings on his cheeks, his forearms, his wrists and most of all, those sinful jagged twin strips started from the small of his back, rounding his hips and drawing attention to the package between his scrotum. Half-masted slit golden eyes beckoning, seducing, commanding all the attentions toward himself under the thinner trips along his lids.

The first second Sesshoumaru was close to drooling all over the forgotten mess on his desk.

The next his fury was mounting at an alarming rate.

This thing looked no different from a normal palm-size mirror was called _Per Un Piacere Diabolica_. A product of an underground organization composed of paparazzi demons, who took pleasure in publishing something akin to human's trippleX-rate materials. Their primary targets were demons of high statuses within Demon Society. This organization worked for the mob. They broadcasted the image of many sought-after demons by imprinting a part of the poor victim's shadow in this demonic mirror, and distributed their products to the consumers by various means. Only a small number of higher-ups knew exactly how it was born and why they let it be. And he was one of those.

But he had never got caught half-undressed!

Neither Inuyasha.

This could only mean _consensual_.

He growled.

* * *

Every living being within range squeaked fearfully in the darkness of their hiding places when the double-doors parted from their hinges and lay on the white marble floor miserably after a loud crash. Sesshoumaru emerged from the dust, marching forward menacingly undisturbed in his path. His wide population of properties watched him depart like hawks, none dared to make a noise.

When the elevator door closed after him with a sound of final…

"What's in his hand? It looks terribly familiar." Shippo whispered, peeking up from the backrest of his sofa.

"It… is melting." Kohaku remarked, relaxed his tense muscles a little now that he was no longer in immediate danger.

Jaken and most of the onlookers swallowed, eyes glued to the droplets of green goo on the floor their Lord and Master had left in his wake. Unlike those two, they immediately realized what the item actually was from being loyal customers of the providers themselves. As long as Sesshoumaru-sama never got to know his and his sibling's faces were everywhere on their bedroom walls…

* * *

Instead of testing out his brand new fastest car (its description said so) or shooting across the sky like a fallen comet, Sesshoumaru teleported home. And when he did—

 _"INUYASHA!"_ The thunderous Demon Lord roared.

However, instead of waiting for any answer, he let his olfaction lead him to their Playground Vicinity where his suicidal other half was. And he found said creature in the same position he had seen earlier.

There was one second of almost drooling like déjà vu.

And then Bakusaiga lodged itself in the exact place where Inuyasha's pretty face had been the instant earlier.

"Wow," Inuyasha smirked easily, stood beside the nightstand to leave his unfinished wine glass there, eyes never strayed from the raging demon across him, the fur bedding was only thing separating them, "Is it love I feel in the air?"

 _"Love?"_ Sesshoumaru repeated the word like acid, his answering smirk slowly manifested on the corner of his lips, "I am seeing _death_ closing in on you."

Only Inuyasha knew,

That Sesshoumaru was a very jealous possessive creature.

Well, he had a whole day off to taste him to the fullest after all. It had taken him quite long to realize and get used to the fact that whatever he wanted, he always got. Every time.

* * *

"Too bad," Inuyasha licked his sibling's exposing throat before nipping on the sensitive spot below his ear, "That one she gave you is the original. I didn't have enough patience to wait for them making any copy."

That didn't explain the scent of blood from the glass.

The only reason Inuyasha hadn't moved from his spot was because he felt too lazy to do so while being quite comfortable. Most of all, he knew exactly _who_ was indirectly looking. Not because of something he shouldn't drink prior.

Before his shadow was demonically imprinted on the mirror, Inuyasha had gotten drugged.

Before the drug dissolved in his system, Inuyasha had guided his offenders to a very, very dark place. With a flick of his wrist. The outsiders had two chances to fully appreciate death, because life was their current greatest enemy for not leaving them as fast as they begged it in the second time.

Before he sent them off, he had a good laugh after they told him that drug was a toxin from the combination of their blood. Its purpose was to render him incapable of defending himself, caused him to be completely vulnerable against what they had in store for him and his godly body.

Before that, he wondered how pitiful this poison was in comparison with his lovely Sesshoumaru's.

When he was offered a nice imported liquor from the West by these nobodies as they released their allure all over him, his mind had yet finished recalling the feel of Sesshoumaru against him when they became one during their most recent physical contact hours earlier. Absentmindedly he brought the glass to his mouth to humor them.

His Sesshoumaru was not pleased.

"They saw you!" Sesshoumaru snarled, easily finding his way inside his grinning sibling from familiarity. Inuyasha reminded him they had been revived by Tenseiga once to beg for death again, and flipped their positions, this time _he_ was inside his older brother.

"You let them!" Sesshoumaru hissed in Inuyasha's ear before biting the highly sensitive appendage almost painfully, taking control again when Inuyasha was momentarily paralyzed. All Inuyasha did was mouthing _"I miss you"_ against Sesshoumaru's lips before sealing them, and he was dominating his sibling once more.

"You are mine!" Sesshoumaru growled, renewed his marks of possession on Inuyasha's flesh. Inuyasha let his sibling claim him as he pleased, threading his fingers in long silver hair, urging his older half on, letting loose music in Sesshoumaru's ears.

"Only you hear me." Inuyasha kissed Sesshoumaru's forehead as he carried his sleeping brother to their Forbidden Region. "Only you see all of me." His lips moved downward along the bridge of Sesshoumaru's nose, lowered his significant other to the clean mattress. "Only you can touch me like this." His lips closed around his mate's, coaxing them to open for him, as they always did even when their owner was incoherent of his surroundings.

_"You are mine."_

Five centuries later, Inuyasha had fully embraced manipulation as one of his nature to crush Sesshoumaru's dormant negative emotions whenever they foolishly seized the chance to surface, mostly because Inuyasha provoked them; and turned cruel beyond the late Kagome's imagination to protect this creature who had chosen him over his own Mother since the moment he was conceived.

Inuyasha of Western Royal, wickedly exotic, the _most dangerous demon_ of their generation.

* * *

He felt her presence before she put her hand over his eyes from behind.

"Feel like being alone?" She whispered low in his ear, letting amusement carry in her voice.

Inuyasha hummed in acknowledgment, his head leaned back to cushion in her lap, not moving from where he submerged in warm water. "I am waiting for you." He replied softly with a half-smile, angled his head a little to nuzzle back when she brushed her nose against his, taking in her scent. "Who else had you been with?"

"You sound like I am being unfaithful behind your back." She nipped the tip of his ear playfully before running her tongue along the pointy shape.

"I'm not going to presume," Faster than the eyes could see, Inuyasha was hovering over her, his forefinger trailing her jawline, stopped under her chin to raise her face, their eyes locked, "But I will make sure it dies in the most painful productive way for being unworthy of you."

Sliding her hands from his biceps to the back of his shoulders, she sighed dramatically, "I am never going to find someone to warm my bed if you two keep killing off all the poor candidates."

Low chuckled resounded in Inuyasha's chest, he pressed his mouth on the side of her neck and smirked, "Then don't." He lifted his hand, the one not busy supporting her head on the marble stone, slithered under her upper Mokomoko and loosened it from around her bosom.

"You are getting my clothes wet." She murmured above his head, weaving her fingers in his hair and running them in random circles on his scalp.

"I'm going to hunt that other scent on it before properly disposing it later. You don't have to worry about clothes anymore once I've got everything off your body." He opened her neckline and nuzzled her velvet cleavage with a pleased hum, "He and I will be very upset if someone else manages to get a hold of our royal treasure when we are not looking."

"How selfish." She wrapped her hands around his neck and bent down to kiss his forehead when he helped her sit up so he could remove her kimono.

"As all children are about their Mother." He humored her airily, lifted her in his arms and descended until water covered to her collarbones where he situated her in his lap. He ran a soft fur ball along her skin to rid her of the scent of outside world while recoating her in his own aura as he cleaned her at his own idle pace.

"How do you feel?" She asked, resting her head on his shoulder, eyes closed in repose.

"I hardly feel anything with that sorry excuse of a toxin even in this night." He answered her indulgently, continued his motions undisrupted. "Apparently their purpose was pleasure from a high class demon. Too bad." He paused his musing in contemplation, pressing the back of her hand against his lips, "I had been rather paranoid for expecting more. But it's all good that I decided you should be absent. I did get a little carried away because I was bored."

She tilted her head so that her lips brushed his cheek and readjusted her loosely captivated hand to caress the other, "Tell me immediately the moment you feel something different. You know it, right?"

This time his mouth found her temple as he embraced her in companionable silence.

* * *

Sesshoumaru instantly drew her closer until he had her trapped in his limbs the moment Inuyasha lowered her on the mattress beside him, letting out a pleased growl when his lungs got their fill of her scent and Inuyasha's on her combine. Inuyasha brushed aside a lock of slightly damp hair across her cheek, pressed a goodbye kiss on her lips and did the same with Sesshoumaru. Then he straightened up and left them to get dressed.

"Going somewhere?" Sesshoumaru slurred sleepily, his voice almost muffled by how he was burying his face in the back of her neck.

"Mm, somewhere." Inuyasha responded vaguely, opted to drape the black jacket of his suit around his shoulders instead of wearing it formal way, giving the world free fan-service of his abs behind thin russet dress shirt.

Sesshoumaru grunted almost sulkily, only slightly placated because of her petting along his nape.

"Inuyasha," She called when the youngest was about to leave, "Don't bully him for too long."

There was a less than friendly curl of his lips when Inuyasha said, "I only plan to reeducate him a little." And he disappeared where he stood.

"Who are you talking about?" Sesshoumaru mumbled in her ear, tightened his hand around her waist, his other hand found her wrist and skimmed down, entwined their fingers.

"The Lord of his friendly Wolf pack."

Sesshoumaru opened one of his lids at her mention of Wolf, "The one has been demanding his attention lately?"

"That one." She confirmed.

"Why would _that one_ always bother with something outside his domain." Sesshoumaru huffed.

"The most recent nominated member of the Council is his old acquaintance. He finds it necessary to provide assistance when needed."

"And he requests Inuyasha because?"

"Obviously it is something only Inuyasha can do."

Sesshoumaru raised an eyebrow, "World domination?"

She chuckled at his poor sense of humor.

* * *

"Can I kill him?" Inuyasha jerked his chin in the direction of the elder Wolf demon, leaning back on the lounge, his arms stretched along the backrest. Ayame sat beside him, hiding her smile behind a sleeve, obviously assumed he was joking.

"This is our first official meeting, Inuyasha-sama." The elder Wolf bowed on one knee, held Inuyasha's ankle with his hand and kissed his foot. "I am Mikage."

Moved his foot under the demon's chin, Inuyasha raised the bowing head with his toes, "Head up," He ordered, a smirk forming on the corner of his lips, "What a humiliation for one pureblood demon such as yourself to kowtow before a _half-breed_ , hm?"

"No pureblood can compare with the purity of those belong to the Royal families." The elder demon replied without missing a beat.

"Even if?" Inuyasha stared down, an edge of challenging in his icy tone. Ayame's breath hitched at the tense atmosphere after his prompt and tried coming up with something to avert his attention. Before she could say anything, his arm subtly around her shoulder tightened in his silent way of telling her not to interfere. _"Well?"_

"Even if My Highness is the only one in our history born belonged to two Royal bloodlines."

Inuyasha's amused laughter filled the grand hall, sent chills down the spines of everyone presented. "Ayame," He regarded the female beside him when his mirth subsided, "I like this one. Sweet tongue. Can I kill him still?"

"Hmph!" She pouted and turned her eyes from him to hide her anxiety, "You have to be always so mean!"

"It's not my fault your mate ran off when I finally pay him a visit." If Inuyasha noticed her fear, more likely he did, he let it slide.

"He couldn't have expected you to come so soon after your Mother— _the Lady_ left before long." Ayame corrected herself a little too late, though Inuyasha didn't seem to mind her slip.

"He would be expecting my appearance once I catch scent of something that shouldn't be on her. Turn out it is you, sweet tongue." Inuyasha tapped his foot on the side of the demon's cheek, knowing the other caught the hidden meaning in his casual tone. He drew a thin line of blood on the skin with his claw toe, golden eyes flashed of something darker than his smile was giving away at the sight, before pulling back and crossed his legs.

"Please forgive my insolence, My Highness. I have never been graced with one of great magnificence as Her Majesty and before I know it…" Mikage trailed off and left it at that, mindless of the dripping wound Inuyasha left on his cheek.

Inuyasha leaned down, propped his elbow atop his knee and supported his chin with the back of his hand, smirk still in place, "Are you now asking for permission to pursue our Treasure?"

"If My Highness would allo—"

"INUYASHA!" A familiar obnoxious voice interrupted them.

Inuyasha slapped the punch aiming his way without looking, gripped Kouga's head with the same hand once the Wolf was off-balance and slammed him to the ground, which cracked under the force of his demonic pressure spread over the Wolf territory. The whole Wolf pack dropped what they had been doing and themselves to the ground, clutching their heads in terror, some weaker ones gripped their chests in a pitiful attempt to gain back air in their frozen lungs. All saved for Mikage, who was still on his knee and tried not to do anything he would regret. Because even though being an Elder, he was not allowed in individual business unless requested. _But_ , he stared at the Dog Demon from the shadow of his fringe, _What a terrified display of power..._

"Dearest!" Ayame gasped in horror at the situation, not knowing how had it come to this. It was not unusual for Kouga and Inuyasha to exchange blows, but _this_ was first in a century time without any justified reason.

"You've got a lot of nerve." Inuyasha sneered, pressing his claws down harder when Kouga attempted to budge his head.

"Inuyasha-sama, Mikage-sama only greeted the Lady!" Ayame touched his forearm to get his attention, glancing between the two worriedly.

"I know." Inuyasha assured her. "I smelt him strongest on her hand."

Ayame relaxed a little at that. But then she was rigid again when she sensed his killing intent. "Inuyasha-sama—!"

"Remember your lesson yet, Wolf." Inuyasha questioned Kouga instead.

Kouga lifted his trembling hands in surrender.

Inuyasha blinked in boredom and sat up properly like nothing happened. His threatening aura also disappeared without a trace. "Come see me tomorrow, Wolf. I'm leaving this to you for now."

"But you only just come." Ayame protested. Against her better judgment, she preferred going to the end of this than doubting her friend. "It's been so long since the last time you were here."

"Next time won't be that long," Inuyasha leaned over to kiss her cheek chastely, "Promise," _When the nuisances are not around,_ He hushed in her ear only.

Ayame nodded in acceptance. "We'll see you off. Come on, Dearest." She pulled her mate up, who had decided to sit where he was released with a thoughtful expression on his face.

* * *

"What happened?" Kouga asked when the three of them were alone.

"You are a fool." Inuyasha said lightly. "If you haven't figured it out yet, then keep an eye open for that acquaintance of yours."

Kouga frowned, not understand where this came from. "Mikage?"

"Inuyasha-sama, Mikage-sama is a good friend of my grandpa. I don't think he has any hidden agenda." Ayame told him.

"The scent of his blood puts me on edge."

"Ha?!" Kouga snapped at him irritatingly, "Is that it?!"

Inuyasha ignored the outburst, "Ayame."

"Yes, Inuyasha-sama?" She looked up at him, flushed right away when he put his hand on her cheek and brushed her hair back.

"Take care." He turned his back to them and disappeared after throwing a two-fingers salute over his shoulder.

Kouga scratched the back of his head in confusion. "What was that about?"

"Aahh, he is so powerful and a gentleman…" Ayame sighed dreamily. Despite what happened, his actions spoke of the reassurance that nothing had changed in their friendship and that was all she needed to know.

"I agree with you on the powerful part but gentleman? Excuse me?! Did you see him almost open my head in front of your eyes!?" Kouga grilled, crossing his arms sulkily.

"At least he didn't kill you." Ayame teased, her eyes shone again, "So protective, so possessive, so handsome, so beautiful…"

"Yeah yeah… Too bad you are stuck with me!" Kouga snorted at her fangirl-mode.

"I am fine with you. Because on the other side of his affection have to be someone like the Lady and Sesshoumaru-sama." Ayame leaned her head sideway on Kouga's shoulder, "Sometimes I cower in fear just thinking about how much he loves them."

"He changes." Kouga said solemnly, wrapped his arm around her shoulders and looked up at the moonless sky, "We all do."

"I wonder if Kagome was born again in this present time, would he turn back to the Inuyasha we knew."

"Don't be silly. He is still _our Inuyasha_." Kouga smiled with unshakable conviction.

"Right… I'm sorry. I don't know what comes over me…" Ayame whispered bashfully.

"When I saw him, I almost mistook him for his Father." A voice said behind them.

Ayame perked up and looked over her shoulder, smiling when she saw who, "Mikage-sama!"

More than worrying about how much the other demon had heard them, Kouga narrowed his eyes at that remark. There had been rumors about the council supporting Inuyasha over Sesshoumaru for the _Taisho_ position. Because, once Inuyasha entered his first phase of maturity, he indeed looked like his late Sire more than Sesshoumaru, who was told to be the male version of his elusive Mother by those who got their chance of a lifetime to be in the presence of the Lady.

How funny, only several centuries ago Inuyasha's existence was foretold to be the fallen of the Western Royal, just because he was a _hanyou_. That was something never heard of or happened throughout the history of Royal bloodlines. Look at now, when everything with brain worshipped Inuyasha like a living God. And the Western Royal was still the strongest among Four Great Royals of Demon Society. While other three Royal bloodlines had taken in outsiders to reserve their existence and protect their territory at the cost of weakening their purity, the Western Royal still had the same three identities remained at its core.

The birth of mixed-blood offsprings always resulted in bloods and tears for various reasons. Prejudges, fears, helter-skelters, consequences when one blood canceled or worse, dominated the other, and worst of all, mutations. But the fact that a mixed-blood could surpass those of pureblood had been acknowledged with Inuyasha as solid proof. It was too bad they took so long to realize how dangerous a _hanyou_ could evolve under the right environment. More like, as some put it, Sesshoumaru had done something he _shouldn't_. Like humans, demons also feared _change_. The longer they lived, the greater their fear became.

Kouga couldn't help comparing Inuyasha with Naraku on how they were offered a collection of characteristics and powers to keep and discard what they had no need for. The biggest difference between those two were, Inuyasha had a wider range of selection because he was born purely natural whereas Naraku had to resort to absorb strong demons to make up for it. But only Lord knew why Inuyasha never lost his demonic power on the night of New Moon during these recent centuries when the greatest secret of _hanyou_ became a common knowledge. This led to some certain suspicions about the truth of his _hanyou_ upbringing. Kouga would, too, if he hadn't seen that black hair, human Inuyasha once upon a time.

The greatest change within Demon Society in these five hundred years was the acceptance of _hanyou_. The wariness and distrust were still there, but as Sesshoumaru had put it, _"If you can't adapt to the change of time, then accept your uselessness for living under your own delusion of power for too long and perish with it"_. The Western Royal had refused to partake in the fight against humans once the "weak ones" had grown beyond expectation. They created more and more disastrous things to make up for their weak physical strength from the objects surrounding them. They could easily replace and enhance their creations to do their deeds as they sat back and waited for fruitions without ever harming themselves doing fatal jobs. They evolved. Not their body, but their mind, and their life.

Together with Inuyasha and his own Mother, Sesshoumaru leaded his properties and allies to their peaceful life this day where they walked alongside humans without ever being exposed as what they truly were. While other Royals dwindled to the point they forced themselves to break the unspoken ancient rule of inbreeding in order to live on. Thus resulted in the stain of their purity with no turning back, because they had fought against the impossible and lost.

"I only say this because I know him." Kouga lifted his chin, glancing at the Elder from the corner of his eyes, "Inuyasha doesn't care about being _Inu no Taisho_. Not in the least."

"Maybe that is why there has never been any disturbance within the Western Royal?" Mikage tilted his head courteously, "Rumors have it that Inuyasha-sama and Sesshoumaru-sama are even in strength. And the only reason Sesshoumaru-sama is still considered the strongest is because Inuyasha-sama refuses to raise his weapon against his sibling."

"Well," Kouga stretched and folded his hands behind his head, "Whenever those rumors come true, we will start worrying about them. As far as I know, neither of them is unaware of the other."

"You seem quite fond of their brotherhood." Mikage observed, smiling in amusement.

"It's not like that, Mikage-sama," Ayame giggled behind her hand, "I'm pretty sure I and Kouga are more like siblings to Inuyasha-sama than Sesshoumaru-sama."

"Oh?" The elder prompted with interest.

"They have always been like… yes, _that_." Ayame turned to Kouga, her eyes danced with mirth, "Right, Dearest?"

"Yeah, _that_." Kouga grinned lecherously back.

"That?" The elder echoed them in perplexity.

"Just old joke." Kouga waved his hand dismissively and led his mate back inside, "We are retiring for tonight. See you tomorrow, Mikage!"

"Have a good rest, young ones." Mikage smiled at them gently.

* * *

She was roused from sleep by his familiar presence above her. Her golden eyes opened to the sight of midnight hair fall over his shoulders as he unbent from kissing Sesshoumaru's temple. "You are home." She greeted with a small smile.

"Mm," Inuyasha caressed her cheek, brushing a stray silver lock behind her ear, "I'm back."

"You met _him_." She stated.

"I don't trust him." He straightened up and walked away from the bed. "I'm going to freshen up."

"Sesshoumaru will be awaken soon. Don't you want to wait for him?"

"I'd rather get myself clean before that. He is like an adorable hopeless lover when he knows I can't fight him in this form." Inuyasha grinned and moved out.

 _"Adorable hopeless lover?"_ Sesshoumaru hissed behind her when Inuyasha was out of earshot.

"Eavesdropping is a bad habit, Sesshoumaru."

There was a dismissive grunt. "How is this my fault because he doesn't know if I am awake or not?"

"How long have you been listening?"

"Since my power returned."

"It is almost time for Royals Gathering." She sighed, moved to other topic, leaned back more into his embrace, tilting her head a little when he pressed soothing kisses down her neck.

"By almost time, you can say two days away." He reminded her. There was no secret about her dislike of merry places. The loud noises always put her in bad mood. "As always, we won't let any living things get too close to you. Worry not."

She was silent for a while, "Sesshoumaru, do you remember Mikage?"

Sesshoumaru turned her around to face him, "Is there any reason I should?"

"He is the new Council member."

"So someone failed to win your heart from how long ago has come back for a second chance?" His brow raised in feign disbelief.

"He sounded like that was the first time he met her to me." Inuyasha grunted mockingly, slipping under the first layer of fur covering them from behind her. "Do I still look like an idiot? I sincerely hope he doesn't already think I am one."

"How is that a bad thing?" Sesshoumaru asked his sibling easily, "As long his guard is not high enough around you, it will not be too troublesome to take care of him."

"I'm trying to look forward to a challenge here, you lazy old hound." Inuyasha stuck his tongue out at Sesshoumaru.

"Don't hold your breath, Inuyasha. Or you can't bear the disappointment."

"But he has become quite a looker after all those centuries. I almost unable to recall him when I saw him." She wondered aloud thoughtfully.

…

"Sesshoumaru, I'm getting his face first."

"No. He is my prey."

"You two…"

"Why did you let him kiss your hand?" Inuyasha frowned unhappily.

She blinked, "Have you ever heard of greeting?"

"He could have bowed before you on his hands and knees if he thought you are a Divinity!" The demon-turned-human huffed moodily.

Sesshoumaru narrowed his eyes, "What did Kouga do about that?"

"Mostly nothing. He's not helping any in this situation." Inuyasha waved his hand dismissively, "I've already left them a foolproof."

Sesshoumaru decided to humor his sibling, "Are you certain your so called foolproof is reliable?"

Inuyasha's expression was one that said he didn't care. "Maybe?" He went to snuggle her from behind. "It's been a long boring day…" Whined youngest miserably.

"I left in the middle of my work hour to entertain you!" Sesshoumaru groused.

Inuyasha pursed his lips, "It's not like you have anything left to do."

"As a matter of fact, I do." There was a bunch of useless things still littered his desk because he forgot all about them at the sight of…

"Really?" Inuyasha raised a mock eyebrow, "I'll be nice and help you with that tomorrow then."

"Burn everything and don't bother reading them." Sesshoumaru recommended him.

"Your son is too popular, you see." Inuyasha put his chin on her shoulder, pressing their cheeks together, "Why would you ever need to look for anyone better?" He waggled his brows suggestively.

"He is taken." She sighed mournfully.

"Is that so? Too bad. I will take his place then."

"You are also taken." She drawled dramatically.

"But we can't let anyone take you." Inuyasha announced.

She reached up to caress Inuyasha's cheek, smiling indulgently, "You will have to let me go when the time comes."

"We will not have that." Sesshoumaru told her, wrapped one hand around her hips casually, other hand stretched below them, touching Inuyasha on the small of his back.

"Agree."

There was silent as she contemplated them before their playful farce gave way to another, darker one. "You two have no sense of humor, neither common sense."

Low chuckle raised from Inuyasha's throat, twin irises of darkness flashed golden as he leaned closer until his nose touched hers, "We have no use for those here."

"At least try learning to be charming, like your Father."

"No, thank you." The two males declined simultaneously.

"I have enough fanbase without acting like him." Inuyasha scoffed.

"I refuse to change how I am." Sesshoumaru lifted his chin haughtily.

"Oh my, you two used to be much cuter when you were younger."

Playful laughter filled the room before long after her remark.

* * *

"I'm bored." Inuyasha droned in his phone as he stared at the fidgeting trio before him.

"You don't need to say it in my ears each ten seconds just to keep me on line!" Kouga snapped, trying to control his lost temper while swiveling passed a black cat jumped in the middle of the road out of nowhere. A black cat out of nowhere?! Seriously?!

"Relax, you three. I call you here to dispose of these—" He threw the last love-letter back to the stack he had done reading (everything) just to kill time, "—very resourceful suggestions before anyone else got the same ideas."

Truth to be told, it was million times worse to be in the presence of Inuyasha-sama, who would most likely send you to do all kinds of odd jobs ever crossed his mind, range from humiliation to downright brain damage. With Sesshoumaru-sama, they only needed to worry about losing their life, mostly ended before anyone knew what happened. That was why good pets shouldn't bother Inuyasha-sama with reading whatever flooded his brother's mailboxes!

"Hang up so I can finally hang up if you have someone else to torture!" Kouga screeched on the other side, stomped on the brake none too gently because he almost ran over a red light.

"Pet number one, come closer." Inuyasha beckoned with his forefinger at Shippo, hung up in the middle of Kouga's cursing the same moment he addressed the Fox demon.

Cold sweats soaked his back profusely, but Shippo didn't dare to not do as he was told. With a mental squeak, he approached Inuyasha timidly, now understood what his survival instinct had tried telling him yesterday. That he should beg Sesshoumaru-sama to let him burn those before Inuyasha-sama got his hands on them today! Yeeeeeooooorrrr!

Kohaku tensed when his companion in misery made to move toward Inuyasha-sama. There was no need for sympathy toward each other because his turn would come soon enough.

"Do you remember Kouga's handwriting?" Inuyasha asked out of the blue.

"Eh? Um..." Actually his answer was obviously positive. The stuttering was only because his nerves were standing on all ends! "Y... yes. Of c—course, Inuyasha-sama!" Shippo forced out with a strained smile.

"Excellent." Inuyasha smiled kindly at the younger demon, which was fooling no one in the office. "Would you please copy these using his handwriting in plain papers for me? And make sure everything addresses me."

Noted, that was not a request. Inuyasha-sama had demanded it to be done right away. He ordered the mountain of highschool girl style love-letters to be copied and pasted manually as if Kouga was his secret admirer with a big fat crush on him! _I want to die!_ Shippo screamed in his head. "Yes, sir." He could feel his face start hurting from keeping the smile already.

Kohaku gulped when Inuyasha painstakingly turned his head so he was now in full view. _And so it comes..._

"Pet number two." The endearment address somehow felt like a death sentence to him.

"Yes, Inuyasha-sama." Kohaku replied steadily despite wanting no more than diving himself behind the curtain on the far side of the glass wall behind his master.

"I trust you have fully mastered one of my own handwritings. So please help me write these down under my name, to Kouga." Inuyasha motioned at the stack beside the one he assigned to Shippo. "Do you think you can do it?"

"Of course, Inuyasha-sama." Kohaku replied dutifully, accepting his fate.

Shippo glanced at his companion in misery from the corner of his eyes. So he and Kohaku would be cosplaying as Inuyasha and Kouga, exchanging highschool girl style love-letters? Well, at least it could have been worse—

"When you two are done, give everything to Jaken. Now Jaken, you will infiltrate the Kouga and put them somewhere only Ayame can find." Inuyasha threw two bundles at the shortest of the three, "Wrap them in those until they get mine and his scent respectively before going. Understood?"

What. The. Hell?

"Eepp!" Jaken tried to balance the items with his tiny limbs, sighing in relief when he felt they wouldn't bury him alive where he stood, he looked up at Inuyasha in confusion, "May I ask what are you doing with the—YES! Right away, My Lord!" He screeched fearfully at the look Inuyasha gave him mid-speech.

Inuyasha contemplated them for a while, taking in their fear of him (on Jaken's part) and silent pleas like kicked puppies (on Shippo and Kohaku's). Well, too bad they were his most trusted individuals for the jobs because of their tight mouths and efficient in finishing everything without having him gone cleaning after them. And he enjoyed their expressions a little too much.

Inuyasha stood from his chair to dismiss them but he froze, catching the trio's attention. A soft smile broke out on his face as his eyes closed. "Actually I am planning to send you off but Sesshoumaru is coming. So go greet him first."

At the mention of Sesshoumaru, the three immediately brightened up. If they were lucky, Sesshoumaru-sama would catch up with his sibling's mindscape and saved them from—

"Remember, don't bother him with your own problems if you can solve them yourselves." Re, _shut up before you slipped._

"Yes, Inuyasha-sama." They sobbed miserably.

"Don't worry. If this goes well, Kouga will be in your debt. After all, you are helping him out of his own mess." Inuyasha elaborated vaguely.

 _Are you trying to horn Ayame?! How is that even helping Kouga!_ Shippo shrieked in his head, unable to shake off the bad feeling in his stomach. He looked behind himself when he heard the door opened. Inuyasha was already there. _When has he even moved?!_

"It's rude to stare. Come." Inuyasha raised an amused eyebrow at their startled expressions before they scurried after him.

* * *

Kouga jumped out of his car through the window to get in Inuyasha's face faster than using the door. But when he made to straighten up, his face was planted into the passenger door because Inuyasha opened it without noticing him.

"Hey." Inuyasha greeted with a smile when Sesshoumaru stepped out.

"Hey yourself." Sesshoumaru told him with a slight curl on the corner of his lips.

"You... fucking... dog... breath...!" Kouga gritted through his fangs, holding his nose to stop the bleeding all the while glaring heatedly at the younger sibling.

Inuyasha threw a side glance at the Wolf demon. "I am so happy seeing you have not kicked the bucket yet." He drawled with one whole year worth of his boredom, then raised a demanding eyebrow at his silent brother, "No reunion hug?"

As if on auto-pilot (most likely), Sesshoumaru gave him a one hand embrace wordlessly with a neutral face (what's new?) and patted his head like he was a child (on purpose). That got the elder Dog Demon a scowl from his younger, but Sesshoumaru released Inuyasha before his offending hand was swatted away with his ever nonplus expression one would have to doubt if he was indeed fooling around or not. You could never tell when the older of the siblings was in question.

But this was a common knowledge. Only Sesshoumaru could make the modern time fearsome Inuyasha act like five years old from the bottom of his heart. Literally.

Inuyasha tilted his head when he noticed Sesshoumaru had that daze look again, "Are you sure you should be going out instead of sleeping the day away? I will feel better if you don't know that I am enslaving your minions when you are not around."

 _He is not even being secretive about it!_ Shippo and Kohaku were close to cry on each other's shoulder and shrieked about their misery until they were spent.

"What have you done?" Sesshoumaru asked his brother without a hint of emotion.

"Prevent them from begging you to kill them because they prefer that over doing their jobs."

Another common knowledge. Inuyasha couldn't keep a single thing when Sesshoumaru asked. That didn't mean he would get to the point about what his brother questioned him.

Inuyasha turned to stare blankly at Shippo and Kohaku, "In case you are wondering if I read your mind, no, it is written on your faces, quite clearly."

The two shook their heads profusely in denial of what, they had no idea. Just this was the only thing they could do to keep their sanity intact.

"Are we done saying hello finally?" Inuyasha clapped his hands, looking pointedly at the trio minions, "Now off with you three."

"Good morning, Sesshoumaru-sama! See you later!" They chorused and scampered back to the building, dared not to look behind them.

"Tyrant." Kouga snorted at the sight.

"Because you are too slow that I have to take the matter in my own hands. So I don't want to hear it from you." Inuyasha went around Sesshoumaru and hopped on his brother's back, pointing at a guarding demon had been trying and failing to look as if he was not looking at them. The poor thing dropped to his hands and knees for not knowing what else he could do under his gaze. "Wolf, give your car key to that one and follow us."

Kouga followed the direction of Inuyasha's finger and huffed, "I think that one is done for. His face is turning purple the longer you look at him."

Inuyasha opened his mouth, a nasty comeback was at the tip of his tongue, but he tensed and jumped off his brother, stood back to back in a fighting stance. Sesshoumaru was the one sensing exactly where the attacks were coming at them first. Before Kouga could do so much as blinking at their behaviors, the older Dog demon already grabbed his head and shoved him none too gently to the ground and opened the car door where immediately, some projectiles stabbed it and stopped in their tracks for being unable to break through the enhanced glass. Needles. The place conveniently was where Kouga's throat had been in clear view.

"Whoa—!" Instinct kicked in combined with adrenaline rush, Kouga dashed away from his spot where another set shot at him, blue eyes darted around, trying to locate where they came from.

He was careless. The busy street had vacated before he arrived. Sesshoumaru calculated his options, because he had many in this situation. No innocence involved. Closed to their building. Inuyasha by his side. He didn't have to worry about Kouga, this one'd better die if he couldn't defend himself. What could go wrong?

"So this is indeed something worthwhile after all." Inuyasha remarked, slightly crouching, eyes hidden behind his bang.

Sesshoumaru stilled. _Inuyasha._

 _"I can't move."_ Inuyasha's voice answered in his mind.

Sesshoumaru closed his eyes, poison flowed to the tip of his claws and released his whips when the next attack wave came, deflected everything at ease before any could get pass his circle of defense at the same time his demonic aura spread out, covered the entire area.

 _"Kagome Kagome…"_ Inuyasha started singing.

Kouga twitched at the soft voice and turned around to where Inuyasha stood alone in the middle of the street. Sesshoumaru was nowhere in sight.

 _"Kago no naka no tori wa."_ The next attack came from all directions toward the motionless Inuyasha.

"What the hell are you doing?!" Wide pale blue eyes stared at the younger Dog demon sibling in disbelief. He would be jumping his dog-breath and beat some sanity back in that head if he was not busy deflecting the annoying needles flying his way. "DODGE! INUYASHA!" Kouga shouted at the top of his lungs.

Lids fell over his eyes, darkness poured down from the top of his head, dying his silver hair black. _"Itsu itsu deyaru."_ Holy light surrounded Inuyasha like a barrier, purified everything was about to harm him.

The last time he checked, no demon or half-demon or normal human could spill holy light from their body like _miko_ s or monks! - _What. The. Hell?!_ \- was an outdated understatement. Besides, he was already speechless. Maybe he should stop staring at Inuyasha and worried about himself instead, Kouga decided. This was seriously sending him toward a premature brain dead with more questions kept raising around Inuyasha. But one thing for sure, later he had to tell Inuyasha to never sing again. He sounded so damn creepy! And where the hell was Sesshoumaru? His scent just evaporated! He couldn't have gotten himself purified by his own sibling, could he?!

 _"Yoake no ban ni."_ Demonic markings reappeared on Inuyasha's face. The holy light stirred, being penetrated by his awakening demonic power from the inside in black waves. Light and darkness entwined around Inuyasha like whirlwind, fluttering his hair in its silver glory.

 _"Tsuru to kame ga subetta."_ Pure aura in crescent shape of black and white blades cut in the directions where the next attack came at Inuyasha, purifying the needles in its wake and pierced through the hiding demons somewhere in the long row of parked cars, on top of buildings, behind the wall of street shops, amidst the messy situated coffee tables… The enchanted wind screamed like raging souls of Hell trying to escape their prisons, leaving none left alive in its path.

Everything descended into stillness when Inuyasha's aura calmed down.

 _"Ushiro no shoumen…"_ Inuyasha turned his head, demoniac golden eyes staring straight at the bewildered Kouga, _"Dare?"_

Kouga instantly looked over his shoulder.

Sesshoumaru stood amidst the fragments of glasses suspending in the air, Bakusaiga's deadly aura sizzled menacingly in his hand.

A disembodied voice resounded in the area, "We don't know about that, Sesshoumaru-sama." The fragments further multiplied themselves around Sesshoumaru and shot at him at the same time.

"Shit!" Kouga made to punch a shockwave in Sesshoumaru's direction to create an opening for the older demon—

"How irritating." Inuyasha said monotonously behind him, Sesshoumaru by his side, arms crossed with a blank expression.

Kouga had to blink several times to make sure his eyesight was working just fine, looking back and forth between Sesshoumaru and the spot the older Dog demon previously got trapped in now littered with broken crystalized ammos could have caused him serious harm earlier. _When did he…_

"We don't have enough proof against him." Sesshoumaru turned around and walked in the direction of their building. Inuyasha would follow him after he was done sulking over escaped prey. He stopped short in his track when he caught a flash from the corner of his eyes. It had already gotten too close to Inuyasha. Even when his younger also noticed, Inuyasha's slower movement was proof that he had yet fully recovered.

_"Don't—!"_

The next thing Inuyasha knew was Sesshoumaru had ignored his plea to not protect him and took it where it should have hit him. He felt himself being burned alive under his brother's weight as he caught his motionless sibling in his arms.

And then…

_She is going to be mad._

… there was darkness.


	2. Distortion

Floating in the middle of nowhere, somewhere in her Palace, the Lady of the Western Lands stretched out lazily on her throne. How much longer would she have to wait until Sesshoumaru bring _that_ intriguing son to her? There were so many interesting things happened in their future that she couldn't help waiting impatiently for it to come. _"Inuyasha."_ She caressed his name on the tip of her tongue. Her son who she had failed to give birth to. Her son who had challenged her mate for Sesshoumaru's affection and _won_ even before he was reborn as what he was originally not supposed to be. Her son who had their beloved Killing Perfection wrapped around his fingers since that day when the flow of time was distorted because of an adversary from her past in their future.

"Mikage, you will be worthy of that life I had spared you, after all."

 _Inuyasha_. She recalled his embrace from behind when she turned her back to him, not wanting him to see her bitter jealousy over the fact someone else other than herself, a human at that, had successfully given birth to him. The circle of his arms, powerful in his demonic glory, respective in his caress as if she was a fragile treasure, protective in his affection like a guardian from the shadow, and apologetic in the way he looked at her for making her wait too long.

 _"Soon. Soon, I will return to you."_ He had whispered in her ears as he ran his thumb on her kimono over her stomach, holding her tightly to restrain himself from giving away his information of the future in fear of wronging it.

 _"Hurry."_ She had told him just as softly, unable to trust herself to say more than that one word without letting him know how much she was unwilling to let him go back to his own time. His parting kiss on her temple was sweet as it delivered his inaudible murmur of her name. There was no stronger conviction than that about the connection of their blood. Because no outsider could know of her true name, which was sealed away as the Key of their clan Castle since the moment of her birth. Their blood would always find a way back to each other even if the one successfully rebirthed him was a human princess would appear in near future. He had told her as much as that. That he would return to her stronger than he could ever be otherwise, together with Sesshoumaru. That she would understand when she met that human princess when the time came.

.

.

.

She had accepted Inuyasha long ago. She had waited centuries for him. _"Inuyasha."_

"Hm?" He answered, moved his face from her stomach to look up in finding her gaze, not relishing his hold around her waist.

She smiled without elaborating further.

Inuyasha directed one hand from her back to the fur bedding, bracing his weight when he straightened up from reposing his head on her lap, and caressed her cheek with his other hand before leaning in to press a kiss on her temple, ghosting his lips softly in the form of her name, lingered a little longer before drawing back. "Hello again, my imperial treasure," He greeted playfully, nudging her forehead with his until she fell backward and he was hovering over her, "Who would you like me to kill today?"

She wrapped her arms loosely around his neck, tilting her head slightly to recall something other than a name. "There was this wolf from the North, used to be one of my potential suitor since before your Father realized his feeling for me."

Inuyasha raised a disbelief eyebrow.

She chuckled at his reaction, pinching his cheeks teasingly, "Not all of us fell in love with our mate at first sight. Besides, you and Sesshoumaru are merely more special than that."

Inuyasha seemed almost pacified by her statement. That didn't mean he was satisfied. "Do tell me at least he went lion-daddy at that wolf for even approaching you."

"Maybe not as drastic as you two combine." She indulged him.

"He did? Alright, a positive point for him then. And?" Inuyasha prompted.

She moved a finger to the center of his mouth, indicating the end of her story, "Something interesting will happen soon."

Inuyasha's ears twitched in his irritation. "What is that ugly scent still wandering outside after all this time?"

"I can let it in if you want." She offered easily.

"Can you rephrase that? It gives me too many ideas to concentrate on something else."

"Ideas like?" She pressed, painstakingly ghosting her fingers along his bare back.

"Like you have finally admitted there is nothing better than us for you?" Inuyasha stretched out like a feline under her teasing touch, burying his face in her neck.

"I may have let the Sin of Greed take over me and want more."

A low chuckle rumbled in his chest and vibrated against hers, causing her to breathe out at the sensation. "Life is boring without having a taste of Sins."

"Isn't that a crime?" She embraced him almost tightly as she asked it.

"Royals don't commit crimes even if they do what criminals do." Inuyasha winked, grinning cheekily, "And I? I am the rule of _hanyou_. So I can never be wrong even when I killed off a bunch of thieves and felt bad about it later."

"Do you, still?"

"Not at all. I used to be an idiot who cried over spilled milk for killing things that wronged me when I got sidetracked. But I am doing right to myself now."

"Is that so." She closed her eyes with a small smile on her lips.

"I have come back to you stronger than I could ever be otherwise, together with Sesshoumaru."

"Indeed."

"Mother, how can we ever let you go." His seemingly affectionate wondering however, carried in itself a darker meaning despite its sweet sound in her ears.

Inuyasha narrowed his eyes sharply when he felt a nudge in the back of his mind. _Annoying vultures_. He silently pulled himself up right and put his hand on her shoulder to halt her when she was about to do the same. "I will take care of them," _You stay here_ , was left unsaid.

"I have trouble recalling the last time I watched you on the field."

"This is hardly a field." He leaned closer to kiss her cheek, "Next time."

She gave him a glaring pout but otherwise gracefully settling herself back on the pillows scattered around them again.

"Be right back." Inuyasha grinned pleasingly and disappeared.

.

.

.

She should have known it was happening. Peaceful time had lowered her guard too much, to the point she looked pass what she had been so long anticipating. Maybe Inuyasha had yet to look any close to the one she remembered until now, but the reason finally manifested itself. _Who could have thought the answer is always right before my eyes…_ She mused with a smirk, brushing aside the long stray lock fallen on Inuyasha's cheek in his restless unconsciousness. He would need more time to get used to having Sesshoumaru's demon within himself. However she couldn't wait to see what would become of him once he opened his eyes despite already knowing, since centuries ago.

* * *

_The first time we met, you said I was weak. That was obvious because I was a hanyou. Hanyou. That word again. It always angered me when people in the castle kept calling me that. For some reasons I didn't know at the time, it got worse when you said it. 'Who are you,' I had wanted to ask. But before I could utter a word, my pursuers found us. And then one after another, their mutilated heads and limbs fell. I didn't see you move but I knew it had to do with you that everything around us smelt of blood and death. I should be scared of you, because you were same as them and worse, a predator of predators. I could only look up, frozen at your intimidating self, knowing it was useless to run away from you. You told me only weakling ran at the sight of its hunter. Normal humans were weak. Demons also were weak if they could only hunt those weaker than them. And I, one born from a half of both, the hanyou, could hunt the weak ones like a demon and run at the sight of those stronger than me like a human. Because nothing could fault me for it. Because I was an outcast that did not belong to any category. Because I was a hanyou._

_And you told me I was hanyou until I became worthy of my name._

_It was then that I realized the first thing, you didn't see me as anything but_ what _I was. As I looked around at my fallen hunters, I realized the second thing that your words had meant I was lower than them in your eyes. What did you want me to do? The thought burned my inside with a chaotic of emotions that ended up falling down my cheeks in form of hot tears as I tried wiping them away to no avail. When my sight was clear enough to see again, you were no longer there._

_I had wished that was just another bad dream, in that bad dream my mother had passed away, telling me to run from the castle and never came back. Everything was on fire. The people lived with us had been killed. Demons were chasing me. And you._

_But the scent of blood and death around me that you had left in your wake told me that this was the dream I would never wake up from._

_It was another five decades until the next time I saw you. You look barely different from our last encounter while I had gotten taller, though my height was still miserable in comparison with yours. You remarked the fact that I was still alive surprised you, but the look on your face was anything but. You told me your name was Sesshoumaru._

_My older brother._

_But there was hardly any familiarity between us. I kept my mouth shut instead of voicing my thought._

_You grazed your thumb with your index-claw before my eyes and I smelt it. The relation of our blood. The truth of your words. Instead of hope from knowing I still had someone beside my mother, dread filled me. You must have read it on my face, too. You said we were too different that even a hanyou like me could smell it in your blood. Your purity. While mine was the stain because my mother was a human. You never had to fear the day when you would become a human, because it never came. Because you were born a pure-blood daiyoukai._

_That was why, "To erase the shame My Father had brought upon our bloodline, Inuyasha, I will kill you with my own hands." You said with so much hatred in your eyes, but your gaze always completely pierced through me as if to reach whatever it was that had been hiding within my shadow only you could see._

_The first time you said my name, was to deny me of the Father who I didn't even know how he looked like, your acknowledgement that I was something else other than just a hanyou and, you were my hunter while I was your prey. Before you made true of your words and nearly sliced me in half with your claws, a smile still on your face. I wondered why something that beautiful spelled death in its meaning._

_It stirred from somewhere deep inside myself, urging me to call its name, to focus power on the tip of my claws and released it. Sankon Tessou. It countered your Dokkasou the first time. But once your poison took a more solid form and materialized from your claws like snakes, I needed something else before you successfully killed me this time. Hijin Kessou came to my consciousness naturally like that. But it also drained me too fast that I had no idea what happened next. You said killing me while I was unable to defend myself was boring, and that I was too pathetic for being unable to control my own power._

_Before I knew it, I had stopped running away from stronger predators. The occurrences became more frequent as I walked away from their dead bodies, sometimes half-dead myself._

_My fear for the night of New Moon only intensified as time passed. I was terrified at the thought of parting with my demonic power. Because it was the only thing keeping me alive until now._

_Did you know about it?_

_What if… I had been born a demon? Would you still look down on me? Would you start out calling me by who I was instead of what I was?_

_Would you not hate me since the first time we met?_

_The Shikon no Tama._

_If I had it, would you…?_

"But somewhere in the back of my mind had known," Inuyasha closed his eyes to the darkness surrounding him with a half-smile on the corner of his lips, "You would abandon me as _Inuyasha_ the moment I got my hand on the Jewel. Because you knew I had no need for it. Because I wouldn't be _Inuyasha_ if I became something else to you."

The groundless place he was standing stirred like water surface. A white figure slowly took form in place of his reflection.

"I am not supposed to meet you yet, but his power coursing through me has given me this chance to enjoy our meeting while it lasts. So," Inuyasha looked up at the nothingness in front of him, "Give me your strength."

On the other side of reflection, the white figure also stood up on four legs, animalistic crimson eyes with sapphire slit opened, baring its fangs and let loose an earth-shattering roar.

* * *

Inuyasha came to by a foreign sensation that was almost nostalgic, like the day after his first phase of maturity. Everything was both old and new at the same time. His ears could hear further than before. His eyes could see things that were too blur for him previously. His senses were clearer than ever. And most of all, the two opposite flows of energies came from his mixed heritages that were living within him coexisting more harmoniously than he would ever give them credit for.

Inuyasha turned to the presence at his side. She was observing him with something akin to wonder in her eyes. He sat up, taking in his surroundings to realize he was home. The only thing amiss was Sesshoumaru. But, he figured, if she was here with him, his sibling should already be fine.

She motioned to touch his face.

Bur Inuyasha saw it. The web of poison threads spread out from the tip of her claws, her personal favorite that was a perfection of both offense and defense. He had never seen how it was conjured up at such speed like now. She was serious.

It was a challenge he would always take, obviously. There were two ways to counter. First, stopped her before she attacked; Inuyasha seized her right wrist before she could gather enough of her demonic power there, too. Second, found an opening she purposely left for you to see; Inuyasha saw it, a tunnel wide enough for his arm to slid in without being mutilated. And be faster than her threads that thrust forward from the center of the tunnel or became her puppet the moment it pierced through the barrier of your demonic defense and got to your flesh, by then it would only the matter of split second before the shortest passageway to your brain fell under her whim, and together with it, yourself. But, if one were powerful enough, like himself right now, Inuyasha easily caught the coming poison threads in between his index and middle fingers, soaked them in his own demonic aura before giving a tug that would result in him getting a small cut, allowed his blood lick her threads. Wherever his blood flowed, the formerly green poison threads were crystalized like crimson snowflakes and spreading at a far alarming speed than hers.

There was a split second of panic flickered in Inuyasha's eyes before his claws swiped at the root of those threads came directly from her left hand, disconnected them all before any of his blood could touch her, and covered her body with his as the solidified red web surrounding them started falling down from everywhere because it was no longer receiving support from either demon. But what was protecting his back that exposed to the deadly poison trap was the long while fur had been wrapping around his shoulders.

His own pair of Mokomoko.

.

.

.

"My bad," Inuyasha whispered in her ear when the danger passed, still holding her close to him, "I was pretty sure it should be more reasonable when I wake up."

She ran her fingers in his longer hair soothingly. She was feeling his distress even when his expression betrayed nothing. "I could have us moved to another region had you not thrown yourself at me." She told him gently, silently accept his apology.

Inuyasha let out a breath before he sat up, instead of loosening his hold on her, he situated her to a more comfortable position in his arms so he could carry her out of the damaged area, "I wasn't calm enough to remember that detail after I almost harmed someone I am supposed to protect because I can't control my power." He knew she was more affected than she let on, due to the almost unnoticeable tremble in her person that he could have easily missed if he hadn't pressed her this close to him. He hoped that had been the aftermath of her excitement and, by her smile, Inuyasha knew he was right. After all she had been waiting and he couldn't have her bouncing around like now, not with the guests still within the vicinity.

"Can't you at least go along with the joke?" She inquired with an almost disapproving frown often on her face when something was not going as she wanted.

"I fail to see the fun part in it." Inuyasha answered her without second thought, rounding a corner and kicked the tall stone double-doors open without breaking a sweat.

As soon as the occupants on the other side saw them, they immediately dropped to the floor. He had no time for this.

Putting his bundle down, Inuyasha turned to the almost comical sight before him. "What do you think you are doing." He drawled, looking down at Kouga, who was, more dignified than others, bowing to him on one knee.

"Inuyasha," The eldest Dog demon called by his side, "Do you feel any different?" She prompted, "Any at all?"

The only noticeable difference was… "Where is Sesshoumaru?" He could feel his sibling's presence practically everywhere, but where was Sesshoumaru himself.

She put her hands on his cheeks, making certain their eyes locked, "He's gone."

* * *

"If he had told you _he_ was made for you, would you ever believe him?"

She asked, before walking pass him and disappeared, most likely back to her Palace, leaving him the only living one in the middle of an ancient forest. Her question rang in his mind. She didn't seek his answer for herself when she posed that question. She had stared him down in the familiar way whenever they fell back into the same bad argument over the reason why his Father had left for Izayoi, or why he could never see Inuyasha as a sibling. Why would she, who never met Inuyasha, seem to indicate she know something he was supposed to be aware of?

He had passed the age when his Mother had to spell out everything for him like he was a newborn. It was unfortunate she let him off this time without public humiliating him like that time he sought her to ask about Meidou Zangetsuha. Unfortunate, because she was that upset at him to not bother giving him any more moment of her time. That left a bad taste in his mouth. In the heat of moment when his anger got the better of himself, he had said something he shouldn't. It wasn't in his character to ignore a wrong doing against her without doing something to salvage the situation, but before any form of apology on the tip of his tongue could find the way out, she made it clear that she had had enough of him. His final chance at reconciling was to follow that only hint she left for him before showing his face to her again. That was the reason Sesshoumaru started observing Inuyasha more carefully since. Because she was important to him. Not because of anything about Inuyasha. He didn't want to be any more involved with Inuyasha than he already was. Period.

Inuyasha noticed his stare. Obviously. He hadn't made it secretive after all. And he certainly had no need to give Inuyasha any kind of explanation as to why he did so either.

He expected Inuyasha to snap sooner or later. That anxiety mess could reach its peak any day now. His younger half-sibling was not that hard to read, not after these whole hundred years he had been watching the _hanyou_ grow up.

Inuyasha in his younger decades had been pathetically vulnerable, weak, helpless altogether at first, but behind that obvious understandable surface was the blood of survivor. His human blood.

 _Human was weak_. Whoever, be they demons or humans ever believed that kind of deadly false belief were true fools. While it was true humans easily let their curiosity lead them to fatal danger, it didn't mean they leave things settle at their disadvantage once it caught their attention. Taking from the example where one ever dared leaving its own pack to venture out into the wild and became food to predators, had made the other ones realize the importance in number. Then _together_ , they _hunted back_ with ease as time passed and feasted on those supposed predators of theirs. Human was survivor. They had a frightening ability to observe and adapt. Their time was short, but like other species, they kept their blood living on through generations. They bred like wildfire. They were everywhere.

In Inuyasha's case, for all Sesshoumaru ever cared to guess, that human blood of his could have whispered the information about his adversaries to his demon blood before surrendering its control over, staking sanity in exchange for his entire being's survival. And then there was that part of his Sire's blood, a _daiyoukai_ 's blood that made Inuyasha outstanding even in the midst of half-breeds. In short, Inuyasha had yet to fully understand what kind of potential was still dormant within the mixed heritage of his self. None did, because no demon or human ever let any _hanyou_ live long enough to find out. Both feared the unknown difference.

Inuyasha was rejected by both human and demon, because none accepted that other half of his belonged to another kind of specie. Human feared Inuyasha because of his appearance and non-human strength. They feared his betrayal one of those days, so they shunned Inuyasha before that happened once his human mother was no longer there to protect him. Sesshoumaru had accidentally on purpose, told Jaken the holy barrier created by Izayoi to shield the castle from demons was getting weaker because she would die that day, knowing the annoying mouth ever wanting to please him would then gossip with other demons, and manipulated them to attack the human castle as soon as he left the imp alone on one of his temporary leaves. Jaken didn't need to know he was waiting patiently for Inuyasha to escape the human castle with demons chasing after him. And Inuyasha certainly didn't need to know it was him behind the demon attack on the castle where he had been living with his mother until the day she left him for forever. Or the fact their unlikely first meeting on that day was far from coincidence.

Mothers. Sesshoumaru could never fully grasp the meaning of their affection toward their children.

The first time Izayoi saw him close by Inuyasha's cradle as the infant hanyou suckling on his claw like a pacifier, instead of screaming in terror like any sane mother would from seeing a demon beside her hapless child, she had smiled the smile his Father probably loved most, the one that 'made your heart race and warm' as his Sire told him whenever the topic about Izayoi came up between them. He was confused. He admitted Izayoi was a strong human with the mindset suitable for one of his Father's caliber, nowhere near the kind of pathetic always hid behind protection and inclined to attract more trouble than they were worth. Izayoi was one of the kind, the special within the specials of her own kin that had earned respect and fear from both demon and human. That was why he had never driven his claws through her heart the first time he saw his Father holding her the way he used to hold his Mother. But that same moment had given birth to his hatred of human.

 _"Thank you, Sesshoumaru-sama."_ Izayoi had told him before she walked out, only to come back after he left. When she took Inuyasha in her arms and fed him, her smile never faltered. Sesshoumaru felt like he had missed some details along the way that only Izayoi picked up without him knowing.

 _Inuyasha_. The name his Father gave his half-sibling.

Strange. He couldn't remember how he knew that name.

He tried recalling the first time he heard Izayoi called Inuyasha. But he had already known of the name by that time.

Sesshoumaru frowned, unknowingly putting the already edgy Inuyasha more on edge.

"Rin is with Kaede, you know?" Inuyasha muttered tensely, feeling stupid himself. Of course Sesshoumaru knew. His nose was better than him after all.

Sesshoumaru brushed pass his sibling in the direction of the old miko's hut and surprised them both by saying, "Come, Inuyasha."

He could hear Inuyasha's heartbeat picked up once the uneven breathing caused by his command started regulating itself. Sesshoumaru didn't know what got over him when his next words poured out without passing the approval of his thought, "What could that well bring back to you this time when the girl had finished whatever her presence was required here?"

Inuyasha chuckled quietly. A hollow one with bitterness shrouding its shapeless form of noise. And Sesshoumaru found it greatly unpleasant in his ears. For the first time, Sesshoumaru forgot about visiting his human charge and lashed his whip across Inuyasha's cheek, the force was enough to throw the half-demon off his feet. Before Inuyasha could right himself, Sesshoumaru already had the unguarded throat in his claws. With no intention to remain until any human or friendly demons spotted them, Sesshoumaru brought them to the Bone-Eater's Well. He threw Inuyasha crashing unceremoniously against the old wood, breaking one side of it at the impact with Inuyasha's back.

"Disgrace. You disappoint me." Sesshoumaru sneered at the pitiful sight of his sibling with his ever condescending attitude.

Inuyasha didn't bother looking up. "When am I ever not?" He scoffed wearily.

For some reasons, that defeat tone set off something in Sesshoumaru's mind, one resulted in him marching forward and gripped the silver hair in between two puppy ears, lifted Inuyasha from his miserable state only to throw him face down on the ground this time. He might accidentally kill Inuyasha for real the longer he looked at that resignation face. When his half-sibling pathetically attempted to get away from him, he crashed his body on the younger's back. Sesshoumaru was satisfied in knowing that strangle noise from Inuyasha had been the result of what remaining breath the hanyou still had left was knocked off while realizing the meaning of this situation.

"Do you know why you are weak, Inuyasha?" Sesshoumaru hissed, pressed his weight more firmly on Inuyasha as the younger started squirming earnestly under him once getting air in deflated lungs was becoming a tedious task. "How about now a tiny demon transforms itself into her and worms its way in your empty mind and, when you open your eyes, it is the blood of those close to you soaks your claws, having obey the fiend when it ordered you and Tessaiga to get their heads?"

A small gasp escaped Inuyasha's throat at the horrified imagination, causing him to put more strength into his struggle. That wouldn't happen! He wouldn't let it…! Tessaiga! One hand clawed at Sesshoumaru's steel wrist while the other moved frantically toward his only chance of escaping—

"You allow her become your weakness. Her absence has stolen your will to move on and dulled your surroundings into nothing." Sesshoumaru continued, his other hand, not busy gripping the back of Inuyasha's head to ensure the half-demon couldn't raise, gripped the hilt of Tessaiga before Inuyasha could get a hold of it, and unsheathed it easily without getting rejected like multiple times prior.

Inuyasha stopped dead where he was, more than comprehending what had happened. Tessaiga had…

"Pitiful," Sesshoumaru twirled the sword in his hand until it pointed downward—

Pain shot through Inuyasha and he let out an agony cry, feeling Tessaiga pierced through the palm of his left hand physically coupled with mental incapability from the betrayal of his sword.

"— _Fool!_ " Sesshoumaru gritted the remaining word, sinking Tessaiga down further until the sword stood steadily on the ground, to the point it was impossible for Inuyasha to free his hand without mutilating it in the process.

"Do you want to die, Inuyasha, even now that Tessaiga also turns against you," Sesshoumaru taunted neared a puppy ear, "What have you left to continue living for?"

Inuyasha closed his eyes tightly. He wanted to scream at Sesshoumaru to stop, to kill him, to just end this. But the only noise ever escaped his bleeding mouth, from the badly cut by his own fangs biting down on his lower lip to hold in the pain, was an uncharacteristic whine, just as pathetic and humiliated as he felt right now.

He had been just fine before Kagome came along. He was fine even before he met Kikyo. He used to have none of them. What had they done to him! And Tessaiga! Tessaiga had chosen Sesshoumaru over him. After all this time Tessaiga rejected Sesshoumaru only to choose his brother in the end! Why? How?! Sesshoumaru couldn't suddenly get pass Tessaiga's barrier! The only thing Sesshoumaru ever protected was safe! He had to protect nothing now! No—thing…!

Sesshoumaru noticed the rapidly draining of Inuyasha's blood from the open wound he had created with Tessaiga. His weight would make sure Inuyasha was going to reach the point of air depraved any moment now. Desperation in a near death situation would accordingly lead to strong mental breaking, changed one's point of view to the better or worse.

But in Inuyasha's case, _survival instinct_.

What would become of Inuyasha at the end of this? Sesshoumaru closed his eyes as calmness washed over him.

 _"Don't forget my name, Sesshoumaru. It's_ Inuyasha _, your…"_ The rest had been said in a movement of smirking lips that made no noise. But he understood the message before darkness consumed him. He came to remember it now. The first time he knew that name was… when he was looking as young as Inuyasha on the day Izayoi passed away. That creature had kissed him in the way his parents gave each other when they thought he was not looking, and grinned at the younger him cheekily, claiming _'Sesshoumaru's first kiss is mine'_. His memory from that point on was still blurred, but he was gradually having a better grasp of his almost blank childhood.

Sesshoumaru was brought back to reality once his nose caught the change in Inuyasha's blood and the burn of electric current in the air as the hanyou's demonic aura turned purer, like that of a full blood demon, no, a _daiyoukai_ like himself and his parents.

And like _that creature_.

Sesshoumaru eased off Inuyasha gracefully and stepped back. Tessaiga, as if having a mind of its own, raised from the ground off Inuyasha's palm and fell harmlessly beside its owner.

"Is this what you want?" Inuyasha asked in an eerily calm tone, hauling himself up slowly and turned his head enough to glance at his demon sibling from the corner of his eyes over his shoulder. Eyes that turned crimson with blue slit irises. On his visible cheek was the familiar jagged purple marking often seen on his person whenever his demon blood took over.

Sesshoumaru smiled unreadably at the danger still had its back to him, "Not quite."

Inuyasha raised his injured hand and licked his blood. The wound had already started closing when Tessaiga was no longer there to keep it open. "I heard _Shikon no Tama_ granted any wish. So of course it could turn a _hanyou_ into a _daiyoukai_." Inuyasha turned around and closed the distance between them with two steps. "Seeing what Naraku had become with it, apparently that was true even if the rumor had been a lie."

That was true. Minus his heart of a human. Naraku had expected himself to become a mindless demon like Inuyasha in his first time turning full demon against Goshinki. That was why Naraku had kept his heart at a safe distance away from the corrupted Shikon no Tama to protect it from being fully taken.

"First Onigumo, later Naraku, all wanted Kikyo's heart," Inuyasha tilted his head, "I always wanted yours. Your acceptance. Your acknowledgment. I momentarily forgot that when I became close to Kikyo. I was reminded of that when Kagome awoke me. I wanted more from you when you reappeared. Your attention. Instead of feeling achieved when I cut off your arm," Inuyasha unexpectedly seized Sesshoumaru's left wrist, "I felt ashamed as if I had done something wrong. To the point I had considered throwing Tessaiga away to rid me of the crime of harming you. But I also knew as long I held on to Tessaiga you would come back to me, if only to claim Tessaiga as yours." Inuyasha furrowed his brows, eyes followed his injured hand pressing against Sesshoumaru's chest, where once upon a time bore the scar left by his very first, and fortunately clumsy _Kaze no Kizu_. "With it, I kept hurting you. Why would I even possess such a thing? I didn't even want you to hate me any more than you did, and it seemed to do just that." The demon Inuyasha looked up at his motionless sibling, "I almost threw up at the thought when Shishinki indicated I had to kill you in order to obtain your Meidou Zangetsuha, to make Tessaiga become what only his-repulsive-self remembered. The only reason I didn't was because I knew I would never do that even if I could. Maybe he just didn't think I was willing to discard Tessaiga if things had ever come down to that. Do you believe me when I say I'm giving you Tessaiga if you will be mine?"

Sesshoumaru sneered humorlessly despite the curl on the corner of his lips. "Who do you think you are, _hanyou_?"

A feral grin broke out on his face, Inuyasha threaded his unoccupying hand in silver hair to pull the demon's head down, "Yours truly," And meshed their lips together before Sesshoumaru could think of composing himself. When Inuyasha pulled back a little for his next words, taking advantage of the fact Sesshoumaru didn't even once reject his touches, he kept the intimate contact by pressing his forehead against his sibling's, "Only you get away with calling me a _hanyou_ , the only one still alive actually, you know?"

"And why is that?" Sesshoumaru asked, running his tongue along his lips where Inuyasha's bloody mouth had smeared over them from the old cut he purposely reopened with his fangs in retaliation for that bold advance. There was neither hesitation nor reservation in this Inuyasha who had turned almost demon. _Almost_ , because he seemed to retain what left of his still intact sanity to keep this conversation going on.

"Only you make my name sound like something meaningful." Inuyasha removed his fingers from Sesshoumaru's hair with a flick of his wrist and watched the strands smoothly rejoin their pack. His free hand now caressing his brother's cheek, he mused, "The first time you called me by my name, it was also when you said you will be the one to kill me with your own hands."

"Maybe you are not as sane as you believe."

"I am saner than you believe. After all, I can always kill that girl of yours behind your back since you left her within my sight. Oh my, we all know she is more important to you than me!" Inuyasha's eyes widened as if he had just realized something important before grinning darkly, "I don't need Tessaiga to bait you anymore if you no longer desire it. How about I kill the girl so you will come after me again?" His light tone didn't quite fully cover the truth of his malicious intention behind that not so playful suggestion.

 _"Inuyasha."_ Sesshoumaru almost growled, narrowed his eyes in warning, which did little to intimidate Inuyasha.

In fact, Inuyasha looked like he was uninterested in the expected reaction from his sibling. "If you can't love me, how about keep hating me?" He slightly pursed his lips, forming a mock pout, "Either way, your mind will still fill with me only. As long as you don't forget me, I couldn't care less about the detail."

Sesshoumaru closed his eyes and turned to one side when a sharp spike of pain shot through his head.

_"Hmm, this is still not right. You don't seem to be in love with me at all." That creature, still straddling him, stared down at him in contemplation, "What time is it… I wonder." It murmured to itself, completely ignored his glare. He tensed when its slit golden eyes focus on his missing left arm. "I see. We are still after Naraku, then." He flexed his captivated right wrist, his claws elongated in preparing to strike. Its grip on him tightened and much to his astonishment, his poison dissipated along with his demonic aura had gathered there. What kind of power this thing had over him to control him like this!?_

_"Don't fret. I have been with you long enough to know how to keep you grounded. We are still over several centuries away from that, I believe. Well, no matter," It grinned cheekily at him again, "It's punishment time, Sesshoumaru. I told you not to forget me. My stubborn Dearly Beloved. But that's why I am_ so into you _." And then it kissed him, in a habitual way that he couldn't recall._

_His body remember it well enough that the familiarity of this intense pleasure caught him off-guard. It knew where to touch, knew which button to push, knew his self even more than he ever did. He was attracted to power and it oozed of it and it used just that to dominate him completely._

_His mind froze at the moment his body embraced it and welcomed it like a long lost lover, the nonexistence identity he had never indulged himself in wasting time with. A thick and wide and long and almost too much -something- slid inside him. "You are incredible," It groaned in his ears, devoured all noises he could have otherwise let loose if its mouth had not suddenly covered his._

_"Beautiful." It caressed his cheek, holding his hips firmer as if it was afraid to hurt him before his body had yet to fully adjust when he made to resist the flood of aggressive and possessive and protective and manipulative affection. The hand moved away from his cheek and interlaced with his fingers to wither his last attempt at defiance before his poison dripping claws drove through its skull. It kissed the back of his hand, holding it delicately as their eyes locked, gazing at him in the way that made his heart all the more wrongly fluttered. His lids fell heavily from the suffocation of lust._ This _could not be… This thing could never be_ that _! The creature that was claiming him could not be— "Mine!" It growled in his ears and pulled the hot thing invading his body almost completely out —Inuyasha!_

_Thrust. "My Light," A kiss on his forehead,_

_Thrust. "My Life," A kiss on his nose,_

_Thrust. "My Soul," A kiss on his lips,_

_Thrust. "My Beloved," A kiss where his pulse was beating rapidly,_

_Thrust. "I love only you like this," Whispered in his ears,_

_Thrust. Thrust. Thrust. "You drive me crazy," Their copulation became hastier as the signs of ending drew nearer._

_"Only yours." It kissed him deeply as if to prove the truth in every words it had craved on his skin. But this one truth he knew with real conviction._

_It broke his heart all the same._

_"Your love does not exist."_ He remembered the lone tear he shed when he denied its claim, but he could no longer hear its answer as the memory got hazier.

"—maru! Sesshoumaru!"

Sesshoumaru blinked once and then Inuyasha's face told him this was reality. The face he was familiar with. Not the one that was older, wiser, more sinister with that arrogant half-smile. This one was his…

"You…!" Sesshoumaru couldn't finish. Even if he realized it now, what could he fault Inuyasha when this one had not done anything, _yet_? Even if that creature had been truly _Inuyasha_ …

His heart had beaten the wrong rhythm ever since he learnt of its name. It had been silently manipulating him along the way so he would fall for it every time and then left him. He had to choose to forget because he could never hunt down an apparition of time. Everything he did made sure _this_ Inuyasha would never look at him the same way _it_ did. His hatred made sure _this_ Inuyasha would only see him with great contempt. However, the continuous reappearance before him time after time was a fact the future where _it_ came from had not changed no matter what he did to eradicate it. He couldn't let it happen. _It_ lied. _It_ was a lie. Because, _this_ Inuyasha would never love him the way _it_ did! Because…

"You _betray_ me!" Sesshoumaru growled, shrugged his left wrist free to backhand Inuyasha across the cheek, ironically in the same place his whip had left a gash earlier, and took an out-of-character step back, needing any form of distance between them. "Like she has become your weakness, _you_ become _mine_!" He wished his hand would have moved to Bakusaiga and ended this one and for all with Inuyasha's death. But he knew, from deep down, it was in vain. This apparition had been haunting him ever since before it was born by Izayoi! That was why the only thing he could do, was to erase its existence from his mind!

"You are wrong." Inuyasha whispered so softly Sesshoumaru almost failed to catch it, turning his head back to look at his brother in the eyes. "If Kagome is truly my weakness, earlier you could have killed me like that."

Sesshoumaru gave an empty smile, "Spare me your explanation, Inuyasha. I don't ne—"

"You do." Inuyasha cut him off. "I admit my feeling for Kikyo and Kagome is the same, one they claimed in my heart from the void left by you. But my sidetracks could only do so much as _trying_ to fill it. You left me starving for affection. _Yours_. I didn't understand you back then to fully comprehend your hatred toward me from the beginning. You never let me get close enough to you to understand. I guess that girl beat me to it and I am envious of her. There is a part of you only belongs to her that I can't ever replace. Just like those two to me."

"I am not a beacon, Inuyasha. Are you expecting me to return knowing you will hurt me in the end while you have found solace in your two priestesses?" Sesshoumaru turned his back to his wide eyes sibling, having had enough of this. "If we have already bound by fate, then I will eradicate it. After all, it is the meaning of _my name_."

_On a strong tree branch, the creature held his younger self in its lap as they watched the fire before them roaring strong, eating everything it touched of their adversary's castle, "You don't have to follow it, you know. No matter what I do, I hurt you for a really long time before we can make up, even longer until you will entirely forgive me. That's why, if you feel tired of following fate, just cut it off. But I have fought so long for the right to stand by your side, to be your equal, and now will not be the last time you hear this—"_

"You must be delusional," Inuyasha said behind him—

In that moment, the order of time was too blur that the creature from his forgotten past, _Inuyasha of the future_ , and this present Inuyasha's voice echoed the same thing in his ears.

_"_ _You have always been mine since forever ago. I will not watch you destroy that."_

Those words had given his younger self hope. And he remembered how he was devastatingly broken by it after. His heart had frozen behind thick layer of walls he conjured up to protect himself. He gave up believing. That was the first time its existence was erased because he chose to forget, because the very object to release his first taste of hatred was not even existed.

"You have tested me long enough to know I am no longer a weak weakness, Sesshoumaru. Let me in."

His traitorous heart skipped a beat when Inuyasha's forehead met his back as the words were being said. He knew Inuyasha heard it, too. That sound, louder than any kind of verbalized denial he had been preparing to hurl at Inuyasha's face, betrayed him. It exposed his heart to another chance of being in pieces by the same creature again.

"I never turned demon when I had only you. No danger I had undergone relatively near Goshinki's level, while in fact you, who had always claimed to kill me with your own hands, were far stronger than Goshinki could ever be. I wondered why Naraku always targeted the girl when it came to you. Because you applied your habit of leaving me alone in the area that couldn't get me killed behind your back on her."

Lids fell over his eyes, Sesshoumaru forced himself to demand, "What do you want to say."

"Thank you, for raising me, protecting me…"

"Ridiculous."

"I'm not just taking your words for what they literally mean anymore, Sesshoumaru. You could have said nothing and abandoned me. No one would know I am related to you or your Father if we never met."

"Apparently you understand nothing no matter how many times I have told you—"

"You have told me you will be the one to kill me so many times until everyone include both of us believed it. But then, when will you?" Inuyasha talked over him, "Why others have to know only you are hunting a certain hanyou, Sesshoumaru? What is the difference between me and Naraku to you?"

Eyes widened, Sesshoumaru tensed.

"I understand nothing. I let your words blind me for too long to see the reason why you did what you did. I even gave up on you when I was with Kikyo. I guess despite everything, I still have to thank Naraku for interfering. By even considering Kikyo's offer, I betrayed the strength to live as what I am that you have taught me. What would you feel if you ever see me become human for longer than a night…"

"Be silent."

"I knew I would regret that decision sooner or later. Many things could have gone wrong after that. There was no guarantee for happiness with Kikyo when neither she or I trusted each other enough to see through Naraku's plan. She still created the Beads of Subjugation for me even after deciding to give me the Jewel of Four Souls so I could turn human, for her. Kikyo might never trust the other half of me that is not human to begin with no matter how much she loved me."

The corner of Sesshoumaru's lips curled up despite there was no humor in his voice. "Since when have you started to think first, Inuyasha."

"It's your fault. My world that used to center around you was so simple before I heard of the Jewel."

"I am to blame for your useless curiosity?"

"Or maybe I was afraid to push you. Too many uncertainties. It is still a wonder to me how much has changed after a short time spent playing by Naraku's rules. It takes me months in conscious of your eyes on me to figure out inactivity when you are concerned gets me nowhere. You are that great of an expert in using words to deceive the true meaning of your actions."

Sesshoumaru slightly turned his head when Inuyasha moved away from him, to see his sibling pick up the fallen Tessaiga and sheathed it. While his eyes had turned back to its golden hue, his purple demonic markings stayed.

"My last thought before my demon raised and _cleared_ my mind was you. In that instant, Kagome is no longer my weakness, because I have come back to square one where my only… weakness… is…" Voice wavered, Inuyasha swayed where he stood, setting off alarm in Sesshoumaru's head, "… _you_." Bangs shadowed his eyes, he fell.

Sesshoumaru instantly by Inuyasha's side to catch him. "Inu—!" Hands shot out, curling around his neck to pull him down.

Eyes twitched in annoyance, Inuyasha clicked his tongue, scowling at the lone claw finger separated his mouth and Sesshoumaru's smirking lips.

"Not too soon, _hanyou_." The demon bared his fangs, grinning challengingly.

Inuyasha calmly directed his hand to move Sesshoumaru's finger away. "You had already cut it yourself, with _Tenseiga_ ," He leaned up to lick his sibling's jawline, "Our feud."

Sesshoumaru gave in and released his long suffering sigh. He should have just left, but the moment his eyes locked with that expectant gaze, not saying anything would mean his admitted defeat, but saying something only indicated he was willing to open up, again. So to stay within the safe zone, he repeated in a different tone with all the seriousness that signaled finality, "Not too soon, Inuyasha." Before almost reluctantly prying the frowning Inuysha from him. At the moment he needed to find his manipulative Mother. That cunning she-devil must be lounging in her throne somewhere in the cloud, trying and falling to cover her giggles at his expense right about now.

Sesshoumaru didn't expect his sibling to leap after him, grabbed the end of his Mokomoko for balance before almost knocked out the air from his lungs by latching onto his back (he suspected this was a payback for something happened not long ago).

"What do you mean by too soon? I'm strong enough to start wooing you already! I can even handle your Meidou Zangetsuha and modified it in front of your eyes!" The obnoxious hanyou snapped.

Eyes twitched, Sesshoumaru contemplated his options. To throw Inuyasha at a mountain top or in the boiling lava of said mountain top, whichever made the other wake up sooner or contract a too severe brain damage to remember anything. It was still five centuries early for _this_ Inuyasha to get on top of him!

Purposely ignoring the thick malicious plotting in the air, Inuyasha took the silence for a sign of consent and pushed, "Can I finally have another kiss?"

"Shut up, Inuyasha."

_"Do you know only you can raise me to this me you are seeing now, Sesshoumaru." It told his sleeping self, unaware he had been listening. "I've never bothered to compete with you for your Father. I don't even address him the way you do. He might have sired me, but Sesshoumaru," The hold around him tightened, "You are the only one I see as My Father." It chuckled softly in his ears, "And you always blush whenever I say that, deny it like your life depends on it." It took his everything to restrain himself from snarling at the warm spreading from inside his heart and crawling upward to his cheeks without his consent at hearing and accurate reacting to the revelation._

Sesshoumaru glanced at Inuyasha from the corner of his eyes with small hint of a smile. _Hurry up and grow into_ him _, Inuyasha._

Inuyasha stared in wonder, mouth gaping. "You are… even more beautiful when you smile, you know?"

The smile disappeared. "Jaken will disagree with you."

A scoffed. "Only my opinions matter in all cases."

.

.

.

He should have been cautious, because the saying "be careful of what you wish for" was not there for no reason. He simply didn't expect it would be literally in his case. He was too stricken by the one before his eyes to do anything as he sat in the other lap when said demon raised his chin with a claw finger.

"Hello there, Sesshoumaru." The demon greeted, grinning ferally.

He blinked, unable to take his wide astonished gaze from the familiar pair of golden eyes had lost to him for over seven centuries, swallowing hard, "Fa—ther…" He managed.

The older demon smiled indulgently, "Since my small son is temporarily unavailable until both of you return to _when_ you belong respectively, you are to accompany me in his stead, are you not?"

Sesshoumaru tilted his head with a pain smile, "I don't know if this is the lesser of the two devils but I think I have no other choice."

The Dog General pulled his first born closer until he was embracing the scrumptious soignée frame protectively. "Are you not supposed to say anything?" He reminded his child, "You are giving away too much information about the future you have come from, Sesshoumaru."

The younger demon chuckled humorlessly, looking up at his Father with unreadable eyes, stating in that new melodious voice of his, "You should be asking me why I, Sesshoumaru, was born as your heir and _son_ , now is mutated into your _daughter_." The kinagashi he was wearing hardly covered his new sizable cleavage and the twin mounds of velvet flesh trapped between their bodies were like a screaming proof of his shameful laughable situation.

The Father only did so much as raising an eyebrow if only to humor his pretty much son-turned-daughter in his arms, and shrugged nonchalantly, "Nothing will change the fact that _Sesshoumaru_ is my successor, does not matter if you are my son or my daughter."

"Even when now that there is barely any power left in me?" Sesshoumaru questioned, flexing his fingers to call forth his whips, only for them to disintegrate as soon as they gathered to the tip of his claws.

"Even better," His Father informed, smiling pleasantly, "Now I am all the more wanting to see what you are capable of when feeding by _my_ power," He looked pass Sesshoumaru at the thing lay forgotten on the bed of fur near where they sat, "With that intriguing weapon of yours, which smells exactly like you in every part of itself."

Sesshoumaru glanced behind his shoulder, eyes widened in realization, _"Bakusaiga."_

"Is that its name?"

Sesshoumaru turned back to his Father with a small smile, "I could never believe this is how you know about it, Father."

The General barked a proud laugh, "I can't wait until Toutousai see it!"

The younger nodded, "I did ask him to make its sheath."

"So I see he would not be the one to forge it."

"It was not forged, despite naming Fang," Sesshoumaru shook his head, chuckling at the ironic, "Apparently by the time I obtained it, you had already known it was always within me."

"Hm," The older hummed, feigning thoughtful, but he discarded his charade not long after to grin, "I guess this is how I know that, too."

Sesshoumaru nodded again, "That is so."

The General observed his child solemnly, a frown slowly appeared in between his brows. "You look exactly like your Mother. Father is so disheartened." He sighed sullenly. Before Sesshoumaru could say anything, his Father held his upper arms just so they stared at each other eyes to eyes and nose to nose, causing him to blink in surprise. "But you love me more, right? Right?" The older of the two asked eagerly, his eyes shining like Christmas.

"Indeed I love you more," Before his Father could steal his words again, Sesshoumaru put a finger on the other lips to seal his mouth, smiling mischievously, "But I don't love you most."

**Author's Note:**

> Inuyasha © Rumiko Takahashi


End file.
